[IC] We're All Human, No Matter What They Say. (Sam & Ontos)

[TheFlyingScotsman]

Charlotte stood by the vending machine, pondering for a moment, lost in thought. After a moment or so, she dug a few coins out of her pocket and pushed them into the machine, pressing a few buttons and letting her choice fall down, grabbing the water bottle after it landed. Smiling to herself, she unscrewed the cap and took a deep swig of the icy liquid, letting it run down her throat, soothing the dryness forming from the nerves she felt. Turning around, she made her way to her locker, grabbing a few books, ensuring her personal notebook was included in the pile, hoping she got the chance to spend a few moments collecting her thoughts or the chance to work on some creative writing.

"Who are you?" A voice spoke out, causing Charlotte to jump suddenly where she stood. Shutting the locker, she turned out, eyes meeting the taller girl's as she gazed upon her. "I'm talking to you, you need to answer me NOW!" She demanded, stomping her foot on the ground in a childish manner. Inwardly, Charlotte wanted to laugh at the other girl's actions, put in mind of a toddler having a tantrum. Instead, she kept the giggles buried, opting to give a friendly smile instead.

"My name is Charlotte. I'm new.. obviously. And your name is?" Charlotte offered a way to try and seem friendly, though to be left alone would have suited her just fine at that moment in time. Not that she was anti-social, she just wanted to get to lesson on time.

"I'm Felicity. Now, I'm going to offer you a choice. You can be who you are SUPPOSED to be, or keep up the act you have." The taller girl spoke in a dangerous tone, and the implications struck Charlotte like a runaway freight train, but she knew the best option was to remain calm at that moment in time.

"I don't have a clue what you mean. I'm not hiding anything from anybody. I am who I am, nothing more, nothing less." Charlotte felt her wall quaver under the imposing glare, and the next sentence sent chills through her spine.

"I know you are a boy. I have connections in other towns, and this town is small, my dear. Be careful, or this secret might get out." Felicity purred, smirking coldly at her.

"Oh, piss off you overgrown Barbie doll." Charlotte snapped, mentally kicking herself as the girl clicked her fingers, two of her "friends" appearing by her side, one making a motion to punch Charlotte, which the girl dodged, only to be hit in the gut by the other female, the two attackers flanking Felicity once more.

[Ontos]

Gale glared at the 'no-change' light that flickered in front of the vending machine. There were a line-up of machines to choose from, and when she stepped into one and plucked out two dollars worth of coins from her pockets, fate conspired to stand her in front of a glorified coin-eater of a machine. With a scowl and a grumble, Gale took a step to her right. Five seconds of wasted time. Five seconds was enough to miss a train.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the words of another girl, though words were a generous way to describe the speaking of Felicity. Felicity and Gale had bad blood, ever since Gale stopped her from going 'alpha-bitch' all over some other girl. She always claimed that she had 'connections', though it was hard to pull the 'connections' thing on Gale when her own father was a high-ranking civil servant in London.

The canned drink had to wait. Especially since the two flunkies that flanked Felicity had already begun to resort to violence. Gale didn't hurry towards Felicity, though her pose and gaze told anyone everything they needed to know about her intentions. One of Felicity's lackeys glanced in Gale's direction, and her face twisted in horror.

"It-it's that bastard girl! Gale!"

Felicity gulped as she looked to her side to confirm. But for the moment, she held her ground. Felicity stood at 5 foot 1 inch, and she had least had some backbone to withstand her fear of someone that towered over her. Less could be said about her lackeys, who turned tail and fled. Felicity looked liked she wanted to scream at them to return, but Gale's presence was a greater priority.

"You- you, you should know, that t-this..." Felicity stammered. She was pointing at Charlotte, almost about to reveal her secret. Gale said nothing, but she cracked her knuckles.

"Guess what, princess bitch? My knuckle's going to get to know ya' real well. It's not frowned upon if a girl beats up another girl. I don't care if your bitchiness makes ya' whine about someone else's new car!"

Felicity swallowed another painful gulp of her own saliva, and turned around. She gave Charlotte a look that clearly meant 'this isn't over' before fleeing.

Gale grinned to herself, and stood in front of the vending machine beside the one Charlotte operated.

"Ugh, no change again?!" she moaned, before realising that Charlotte was beside her. She extended an open palm towards Charlotte, grinning sheepishly. "Could ya' lend me a coin or two? I don't want this machine to cheat me."

[TheFlyingScotsman]

Charlotte nodded after a moment, fumbling in her pockets for some coins. "Allow me." Charlotte's voice was throaty, frought with emotions. "Not lending you the coins, I'm paying for the stuff you want..." She mumbled gently, wipimg her eyes as she tried not to cry..

---

Boom!

A resounding crack of thunder roused Charlotte from her thoughts, the young woman looking around her bedroom. It was now empty of any personal possesions, bar a picture frame on her bedside table, which she picked up and smiled at. It was her father, before he'd left to fight in the army. Her brother had taken her stuff in an attempt to belittle and demean the woman, not wanting to give her any respect at all.

Entering the room, the man in question growled at her, advancing towards the woman. "Get out."

"Wha?"

"OUT! GET OUT!" The man almost screamed, smacking Charlotte across the face. Charlotte gasped, raising a hand to meet the red, stinging mark.

---

Standing outside Gale's house, Charlotte was drenched from head to foot with the pouring rain. Her nose ran profusely, the girl shivering where she stood. She'd knew where Gale lived after walking home from school with her, so had gone there in the hopes of getting help from the girl.

[Ontos]

"Yes, father, I am perfectly okay. You do not need to worry."

Gale's voice on the phone sounded like a far cry from her low, boyish tones. It actually sounded like a girl's voice, and Gale found her throat struggling to hold onto such a voice without sounding like a falsetto. At least her father failed to catch on from the other side of the line.

"Indeed. Do keep up with your studies. Have a good week, my girl."

Gale sighed in relief as she placed the receiver down, before she coughed a bit. She didn't sound like that anymore, but she at least tried. The first time she answered the phone with her normal voice, her father asked her if she was Gale's boyfriend. Giving him a heart attack was the last thing on her mind.

She glanced out of the window and smiled. Rain. A rainy day was perhaps a good time to curl up with blankets, forget to wear a shirt and watch old DVDs. A few minutes later, all anyone could see of Gale was a bunch of blankets wrapped around a human, staring at a LCD TV lit up with old scenes from famous movies.

It was upon only the third knock of the door did Gale hear someone at the door. She rolled her eyes. Rain, snow, sleet and hail, indeed. She did not even order anything online, so it was probably the wrong address.

"Wrong address, postman!" she yelled out, followed by some inaudible grumbles towards whoever was interrupting her show. Gale smiled at the prospect of an interrupted day, just before the temporary serenity was broken by the same knocking.

Throwing the blankets aside, Gale grabbed her blazer from the couch and slid her arms into it. "Bastard." Gale clenched her teeth, adjusting the front of her blazer so that it covered her hypothetical bust-line. Even without a proper shirt on, she passed as a guy, but there were things she had to cover up.

Gale stomped towards the door and pulled it open. "What do ya'—"

There was a red-haired girl. In front of the door. Soaking wet, and definitely crying. If someone came crying to Gale's door in the middle of a thunderstorm, it seemed bad courtesy of Gale to forget who she was.

Though with the red face of embarrassment, that was what she did exactly.

"Errr... come in," the word came out of Gale's mouth before her blank mind came up with another reaction. "I'll get a towel."

Easing Charlotte in and closing the door behind her, Gale sped to the laundry room. She grabbed a towel and tossed her blazer aside in favour of a proper shirt. Gale hadn't been with solely female company for a long time, but she was pretty damn sure that they weren't half-naked with each other.

Returning to the living room, Gale handed the towel to Charlotte with the sort of smile one expected from a caring male friend. Whoever this girl was probably thought Gale remembered her, which made it all the more harder for Gale to come up with the nerve to ask for the girl's name.

"Errr... I need to ask.... errr..." Her fingers twiddled together. Gale's mind was coming up with the strangest of thoughts, all of which to buy time before popping the question. Was this girl someone who was stalking her, thinking of Gale as some sort of dream partner? Did she break up with her previous boyfriend, and think of Gale as the possible choice of her next 'boyfriend'?

Gale took in a deep breath, and shouted out her next question like a badly cooked piece of meat. "I'msorrybutwhat'syourname?"

[TheFlyingScotsman]

"Ch..Cha..Charlotte.." The small female spoke through chattering teeth, shivering with cold and emotions. The poor girl was absolutely soaked to the skin, water dripping from her nose and chin.

Where her brother had struck her, it'd begun to bruise badly, tender and slightly swollen. Sniffling, she broke down once again, frightened, cold and feeling alone.

[Ontos]

Charlene was the girl that Felicity harassed for wearing an anti-bullying wristband three months ago. Charles was the guy that almost got beat up for wearing a My Little Pony T-shirt to school last year. Gale almost lost that fight that day, a little something she could reminisce about. Guys nowadays learned about Gale the hard way, and all of them learned how to avoid an excuse for her to intervene.

It was getting so boring she wanted to pick a fight at random.

This Charlotte, however, was some random girl Felicity bullied relatively recently, though for what Gale did not know. But this case was definitely something unrelated to Felicity, because even the alpha-bitch of school wasn't going to traverse the late afternoon rain for a chance to smack someone else in the face.

Gale picked up the towel and wrapped Charlotte's shoulders in it. She took a seat just beside her, but whatever words she could muster failed to materialise anywhere in her mind or mouth. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach when she realised she had nothing to say. Even sighing seemed out of place for a situation like this.

All she did was look at Charlotte with eyes of pity.

[TheFlyingScotsman]

Charlotte sat on the sofa, her shoulder's wrapped in the warm, fluffy towel, as the young woman sat for a few moments, taking in the details of the house around her. With a small sneeze, she blushed hotly as he nose began to bleed. Reaching into her pocket, she retrieved her slightly damp hanky from her pocket, wiping her nose and face clean from the mucus and blood that had formed on her chin and nose.

Sighing, she leaned back into the soft, shivering profusely. Looking at Gale, the young woman let out a cough. "Th..Thanks for letting me in.. I. I cannot go back, m..my brother.."

[Ontos]

Gale forced the sides of her mouth into a smile. Certainly, Charlotte was upset almost to the point of hysterics, but an argument between family members didn't seem to be something serious. She was bleeding, though.

"I'll get you a glass of water."

The girl got up from her seat, returned with a glass of water in hand and placed it on a side table next to Charlotte.

Her mind wandered to the prospect of saying something next.

"Such things happen."

Gale mentally shook her head. Too callous.

"Why?"

She tossed that option out of her mind. It sounded too direct.

"Does this always happen?"

Gale grinded her teeth in self-disgust. Whatever the situation was, Gale was still at a loss in saying anything remotely compassionate. Sighing mentally, Gale sat down beside Charlotte and extended a hand slowly to her shoulder, holding it slowly in what she thought was a gesture of comfort.